Nikkei set to rise ahead of this week's BOJ meeting

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

TOKYO, April 1 (Reuters) - The Nikkei share average is
expected to open higher on Monday, driven by strong market
expectations that the Bank of Japan will unveil bold monetary
easing steps later this week.
The benchmark Nikkei rallied 19 percent in January-March,
marking its best quarterly performance since 2009, as Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe embarked on expansionary fiscal and monetary
policies to revive the world's third-largest economy.
The Nikkei is likely to trade between 12,350 and
12,500 on Monday, strategists said, after gaining 0.5 percent to
12,397.91 in the previous session. The broader Topix
index slipped 0.2 percent to 1,034.71.
"Having moved into the new fiscal year, institutional
investors are likely to become active again," said Hiroichi
Nishi, an assistant general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities.
"The market, both the Nikkei and the Topix, is now much less
overheated and getting close to the 'buy zone'.
"The market expects the BOJ to embark on bold easing
measures, which is seen supporting the weak yen trend. So the
market is likely to eye those as well."
The central bank will start a two-day policy meeting on
April 3, its first under new Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, an
advocate of aggressive monetary policy.
STOCKS TO WATCH
-ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS CO LTD
All Nippon Airways said on Friday that it had not decided
whether to cancel flights using Boeing's 787 jets during the
month of June, citing progress in getting the troubled jet back
in the air.
-TEAC CORP
Gibson Guitar, known for producing electric
guitars used legendary rock guitarists such as Jimmy Page and
Jeff Beck, said on Friday that it was buying a majority share in
Teac, an audio equipment manufacturer, for 4.88 billion yen
($51.9 million).